Hedge trimming, cut at the right time for the plant.
A hedge that gets cut two or three times a year keeps its shape and stays dense. One that gets cut once a year, or by whoever happened to be passing, loses its line and needs a harder cut to get it back. A hedge trimmed in the wrong month can brown off, drop its flowers, or just sulk for a season.
I trim hedges to their existing line, or bring them down to a height you can live with, as high as I can reach from a standard stepladder, or single-storey roof height. Griselinia, pittosporum, buxus, corokia, escallonia, photinia, and the mixed old hedges the western suburbs are full of. Buxus wants its first cut after the spring flush has hardened. Photinia takes a hard cut in spring and a light one after. A pittosporum cut into a frost will brown. I know which is which, and I will tell you if this month is the wrong month.
The clippings are raked out of the beds and off the paths and lawn, bagged and taken away. Hedges are done on their own or as part of a regular visit, and either way it is the same hourly rate.
What a visit covers
- Top and sides trimmed to the line, or brought down to a height you choose
- Straight tops and clean corners, checked with a string line where it matters
- Clippings raked from beds, paths and lawn
- Everything bagged and taken away
Prices
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Garden work, any service | $60 per hour* |
| Minimum, regular visits | 1 hour |
| Minimum, one-off jobs | 2 hours |
| Green waste removal | $30 minimum, which covers the first bag. Then $25 per 280 L bag or $40 per wool sack. Trailer loads are time at the hourly rate plus dump fees at cost. |
| Other waste (soil, rubbish, flax, bamboo, palm, anything mixed in) | $45 minimum, then time at the hourly rate plus dump fees at cost. |
Every service, lawns and hedges included, is charged at the same hourly rate for the time I am on site.
*I am under the GST threshold, so no GST is added. That could change at any time; if it does, GST goes on top of the rate and this page changes first.
How this works
There are two ways to start. Send me a few photos and I reply within 24 hours with the hours the job will take. Or book a visit straight away and I sort the scope with you on the day.
- 1. Get in touch. Send photos through the estimate form, text them to 028 416 1624, or book a visit online.
- 2. Agree the hours. From photos, I tell you the range of hours within 24 hours. If you have booked straight away, I look at the garden when I arrive and agree the hours with you before I start. Either way, if the job turns out bigger than expected I tell you before I keep going, and if you have a set budget I work inside it and do the most useful things first.
- 3. I turn up and do the work. A text the day before and another when I am on my way. The clippings leave with me, and the invoice is for the hours worked, with a photo of the garden as I left it if you were not home.
Waste. Everything I cut leaves with me unless you would rather it went in your green bin. Removal is priced per bag in the Prices table.
What I don't do
I am a gardener, so a few jobs go to someone else. If yours needs one of these, I will say so up front.
- Tree felling, stump grinding, and tree work above stepladder or single-storey roof height: an arborist
- Hard landscaping, paving, retaining walls and decks: a landscaper
- Lawn renovation, returfing and new lawns: a lawn specialist
- Anything inside the house
Related services
FAQ
How high can you go?
Can you bring a hedge down in height?
How often should a hedge be cut?
Do you shape topiary?
What about hedges near power lines?
Or call 028 416 1624